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Equality for those on group water schemes essential under any new water regime – Ó Broin

Sinn Féin spokesperson on Water Eoin Ó Broin TD has said
that equality for those on group water schemes must form an essential part of
the final report of the special water committee.

Deputy Ó Broin said:

“Sinn Féin is of the view that people on group water schemes
should be treated no differently than those on the public system. In our
Alternative Budget proposals for 2017, we allocated an additional €1.5m towards
the subsidy for group water schemes. For 2016 the government subsidy was
just over €16 million.

“Parity between water service users is also supported by the
Report of the Expert Commission on Water which states:

‘Equity with the
proposed arrangements for consumers on public supplies must be maintained for
those who are not served by public water supplies. The Expert Commission
recommends that this be reviewed when the allowances for consumers on public
supplies are determined and that equity for group schemes and private wells be
maintained through additional subsidy or other means.’

“During the course of the work of the special water
committee, we have heard from representatives from the National Federation of
Group Water schemes and read submissions from interested parties. I questioned
Minister Coveney’s departmental officials at length as to how his department
would ensure that those on group schemes are treated the same as those on the
public system.

“The key difference is that group water schemes receive an
annual subsidy of €70 per household but it does not cover the full annual cost
of accessing the water supply. Those connected to the public water supply who
are currently customers of Irish Water do not pay an annual charge for
accessing that supply. Equity would mean that the State would cover the full
annual cost of group water scheme users accessing that water supply.

“We don’t yet have a final figure on how much it will cost
to fully fund the annual standing charge. However, the Department has estimated
that the additional cost to the Exchequer would be around €52.88 on average per
household. On that basis, the estimated cost to fully fund the annual
charge for these schemes would be an additional €4.9 million annually.”